Gov. Andrew Cuomo's approval ratings at lowest point: Poll

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's approval ratings are the lowest of his entire tenure in Albany.

The Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found that 50% of New York state voters gave the second term governor a seal of approval. Cuomo's approval was as high as 63% during the February 2014 version of the poll and peaked in December 2012 with 74%.

Maurice Carroll, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said the factor behind the dip was education, as the debate wages, in Albany over the future of funding, teachers salaries, the expansion of charter schools and other related issues.

"Gov. Cuomo gets a rap on the knuckles from the teachers' unions. By better than 2-1, voters trust the unions more than the governor to fix the schools," Carroll said in a statement.

The governor brushed off the low poll numbers when speaking to reporters Wednesday contending it was all usual politics.

"It's very much the nature of the beast," he said.

Quinnipiac polled 1,228 state voters between March 11 and 16 and the survey has a margin of error of +/- 2.8%. The governor's popularity appeared to differ depending on the region of the state with 54% of upstate voters giving him a 54% disapproval rating verses 28% of city voters.